Mets Morning News: Emotional night ends in agonizing defeat

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On an emotional night at Citi Field, the Mets lost another tough one, falling to the Yankees by an 8-7 score. The night began with a 35-minute ceremony in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which included a stirring rendition of America The Beautiful performed by 17-year old New York Jazz recording artist, Anaïs Reno. In the second inning, Taijuan Walker surrendered three home runs to the Yankees, but he settled down to retire the final 13 batters he faced over six innings. The Mets chipped away with three runs in the second, and Javier Báez hit a solo shot in the third to cut the lead to one. In the sixth inning, James McCann did his best Mike Piazza impression with a two-run home run to put the Mets ahead by one. The Mets added an insurance run in the seventh, but Aaron Judge crushed a two-run shot off Trevor May to tie the game in the eighth, and a Báez throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score later in that inning. The Mets got the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth, but Pete Alonso hit a ball to straightaway center that didn’t get out. The Mets got the tying run to third in the ninth, but couldn’t break through to tie it against Aroldis Chapman.

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During the pregame ceremony the Mets and Yankees took the field together “as one, unified New York”.

The two teams showed the meaning of ‘Never Forget’ during the ceremony.

The Mets and Yankees showed camaraderie, and then fierce competition.

John Harper wrote about how the Mets handled the ceremony well and the big part Jay Horwitz played in it.

Mike Piazza acknowledged that “it doesn’t get any easier”, even 20 years after his home run helped start the healing process.

Piazza praised current Mets players, including Alonso, for continuing to honor 9/11, saying that it shows a lot about their character.

Edgardo Alfonzo was one of several players from the 2001 Mets who were in attendance. He spoke about his memories of Piazza’s home run on 09-21-2001.

John Franco, Lenny Harris, Mark Johnson, Al Leiter, Rey Ordoñez, Jay Payton, Mike Piazza, Glendon Rusch, Steve Trachsel, Mookie Wilson, Todd Zeile, and Bobby Valentine (who threw out the first pitch alongside Joe Torre) were some of the other 2001 Mets in attendance.

The game also featured two separate instances in which a fan ran onto the field and ended up getting tackled by security.

Last night’s loss felt painfully familiar and the Mets have ultimately had their last eight losses be by one run.

May called last night’s outing his worst of the 2021 season.

Mel Stottlemyre Jr. thinks that the New York atmosphere has affected Edwin Díaz.

Bill Madden believes you can blame their trade deadline blunders if the Mets and the Yankees miss the postseason.

Marcus Stroman will hit free agency this offseason, but he has proven that he is as reliable as they come.

Writing for Post Plus, Mike Puma spoke with Keith Hernandez about the team’s weird season and his future with SNY. (Paywall Alert)

Joel Sherman laid out the lessons that the Mets and the Yankees need to take with them going into the offseason.

The Mets will soon require all field staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The policy will go into effect on November 1.

Around the National League East

The Marlins held on for a 6-4 win over the Braves.

The Phillies bounced back from a blowout loss to beat the Rockies 6-1.

In the win, Zack Wheeler collected his 1,000th career strikeout.

Prior to last night’s game, the Phillies designated pitcher Vince Velasquez for assignment.

Philadelphia also placed Travis Jankowski on the IL with a right foot contusion and optioned Enyel De Los Santos and Ramon Rosso to Triple A. The club reinstated Matt Joyce from the 60-Day IL and called up Mickey Moniak and Adonis Medina.

The Nationals fell 10-7 to the Pirates.

Around Major League Baseball

Joel Sherman talked about the last time the Yankees played this poorly at the end of the season, which ended with the club winning the 2000 World Series, and wrote about how that club’s turnaround could give this team hope.

Joe Torre discussed his 1971 MVP season and the diet that made it possible.

The Rays placed Wander Franco on the IL with right hamstring tightness, which he suffered after extending his on-base streak to 39 games in Friday night’s game. To take his place, the club called up Taylor Wells.

The Cardinals erased a 4-0 deficit with two in the third, two in the sixth, and two in the eighth to defeat the Reds 6-4. In that game, Nick Castellanos hit a drive to deep left to give Cincinnati a 4-0 lead.

The Giants embarrassed the Cubs 15-4.

The Dodgers held on to beat the Padres 5-4.

The Brewers tossed a combined no-hitter against Cleveland. Corbin Burnes had a perfect game into the seventh before walking Myles Straw to kick off the frame. He went eight and allowed just the one walk while striking out 14. Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game. It was the third time Cleveland has been no-hit in 2021.

The Mariners lost 7-3 at home to the Diamondbacks.

George Springer’s two-out, two-run home run in the top of the seventh capped a four-run comeback as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 11-10 in Game 1 of a doubleheader. In Game 2, the Toronto trailed 1-0 heading into the seventh, but a Bo Bichette two-run dinger kick-started an 11-run inning that resulted in an 11-2 drubbing of lowly Baltimore.

The Rays easily handled the Tigers 7-2.

The Red Sox squandered a five-run lead early in the game, but picked up a hard-fought 9-8 win over the White Sox in ten innings.

The Twins cruised past the Royals 9-2.

The Rangers scored five in the eighth and one in the ninth in an 8-6 victory over the Athletics.

The Angels doubled up the Astros 4-2.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Kenneth Lavin brought us the Daily Prospect Report for games played on September 10.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2007, the Mets beat the Braves 4-3 at Shea Stadium. After relinquishing their two-run lead in the top of the eighth, Shawn Green drove Carlos Beltran home with a single in the bottom of the frame to put New York back on top for good. The win helped the Mets open up a seven game lead in the NL East, with 17 left to play. The season was then unexpectedly stopped right there, and nothing else happened the rest of the way.